Jade Emperor Pagoda

The museum has a fine collection of Vietnamese antiquities. Read up on Vietnamese history first or you'll have no idea what you're looking at. Outside, the Botanical Gardens are very nice and a good place for a cheap lunch away from the crowds. Six times a day, you can see a 20-minute water puppet show (adult 50,000 dong, child 35,000 dong). It's quite amusing, even for adults.

A rare gem and a must see for geology & natural history enthusiasts. This 3-story building houses a collection of earthly artifacts (and even some non-earthly ones), including a few rare examples. Sadly in a state of neglect with poor lighting and little to no interpretive text. You can read more about it here.

A French-built Catholic cathedral in the city center.

Often overlooked by tourists, this museum celebrates the women’s role in the society, economy, and revolutionary history of the southern part of the country. It offers informative exhibits that include photographs, historical documents, and artifacts such as statues, combat equipment used by women, paintings and dioramas, tools used in the traditional production of textiles, and ao dai worn by famous women. As of a February 2018, the second floor had an exhibit on the history of the ao dai and another on textile production, the third floor detailed women’s revolutionary contributions, and the fourth floor was under renovation.

The museum was opened in a hurry, less than five months after the fall of the South Vietnamese regime. It has moved to new premises with 3 storeys of exhibits and various US military hardware (tanks, jets, helicopters, howitzers) on display outside the building. This disturbing display of man's cruelty during the Vietnam (American) War includes halls full of gruesome photographs, a simulated "tiger cage" prison and jars of deformed foetuses attributed to contamination by Agent Orange. An exhibit on the 3rd floor tells the story of the war journalists from all over the world who documented, and often disappeared or died in the war. Watch out for the amputees who will try to sell you their wares on the museum grounds, though largely their wares take the form of only somewhat overpriced books on historical topics relevant to the museum, and are less of a scam than more of an informal gift shop. The museum is a short walk from Reunification Palace — see the museum pamphlet for a map.

This is a restored 4-floor time warp to the 1960s left largely untouched from the day Saigon fell to the North; construction started in 1962 and finished in 1966. It was South Vietnam's presidential palace. The war ended on 30 Apr 1975 when Tank 843 crashed through the gate. A replica of that tank is now parked on the lawn outside. Be sure to check out the aggressively 1960s recreation room on the third floor, featuring a circular sofa, and the eerie basement, full of vintage 1960s phones, radios and office equipment, supposedly left exactly as it was found when the North took over. There is also a photo gallery and a propaganda film recounting how the South Vietnamese supporters and American imperialists succumbed to Ho Chi Minh's indomitable revolutionary forces, at which point the South Vietnamese supporters were forgiven and everyone lived happily ever after. Free guided tours and an audio guide are available (90,000 dong). The audio guide is extremely informative, but not necessary. There is a nice outdoor café on the grounds outside the palace.